316. Illusion or Reality

As the sun rises, its red glow paints the clouds on the horizon, which sometimes roll and sometimes stretch, with a faint crimson hue, while the sea breeze whips the waves toward the distant ocean.

The waves lapped against the hull of the Pale White, making a "splashing" sound and rocking it from side to side until it gradually regained its stability.

Tiny splashes of seawater landed on the deck.

Drip, drip...

Gild Tesoro, lying on the deck, slightly twisted his face and slowly opened his eyes. A drop of seawater landed on his open pupil, stinging him so much that he wanted to wipe it away. But as soon as he moved his arms, waves of dizziness surged into his head, and a sense of powerlessness washed over him. It wasn't just the cold handcuffs on his wrists, but also the physical and mental exhaustion left over from last night's battle.

He struggled to sit up, glanced down at the handcuffs binding him, and realized they were made of Seastone. Looking around at his surroundings, his heart sank. This was definitely not the Gran Tesoro. Had he been arrested by the Navy?

No... this isn't Marine warship, it's a pirate ship!!

Slightly surprised, he glanced up at the skull and crossbones emblem on the sail and finally realized who the ship's owner was—the new Shichibukai, the Buggy the Star Clown.

"You're awake, Gild Tesoro."

Buggy stepped out of the cabin with a faint SMILE on his face.

"What the hell do you mean by this bastard?!"

Gild Tesoro felt a surge of anger. Although he knew his situation was precarious, he still spoke in a low, stern voice, trying to intimidate Buggy and prevent him from being easily manipulated.

Well... how should I put it...?

Buggy said calmly, "I don't know what to do with you either. After all, I accepted the 300 million Beli you offered. If I kill you, it would make me seem heartless."

"Then let me go."

"Letting you go feels like a waste."

Buggy's words sounded ambiguous.

"What exactly do you want?!"

Over the years, Gild Tesoro had enjoyed power and status, controlling the lives and deaths of tens of thousands of people on the Gran Tesoro. When had he ever been so humble? He felt extremely resentful. If it weren't for the Seastone handcuffs on his wrists, he would have definitely killed this Red Nose bastard in front of him.

However, he was clearly outmatched and had no choice but to yield. He wasn't foolish enough to risk his life in his current physical condition and invite humiliation.

Buggy smiled casually. "Let me think about it."

With the Seastone key on his person, unless Gild Tesoro has the courage to sever his own arm like Golden Lion, there's no way he can escape from his grasp. Now's a good opportunity to test this guy's temper.

Gild Tesoro, with Buggy on his back, hesitated for a long time before finally managing to utter two words: "Bastard."

For some reason, Buggy suddenly burst into laughter, "You fought Fujitora yesterday, but you were defeated in the end, weren't you? You're lucky you landed on my ship. If it were anyone else, they would have hacked you to pieces!"

Speaking of Fujitora, Gild Tesoro's face turned ashen. During the great battle last night, the moment he was distracted by controlling the Golden Giant to block the meteor, he was completely severed by Fujitora's full-force slash, which was so fast it was almost a sneak attack. The horizontal gravity brought by Golden Giant Cane Sword directly pressed him away from the core and knocked him unconscious. Even after a night, his body was still sore and aching.

Although the opponent must have suffered some damage during his last-minute counterattack, it was meaningless because he had already been defeated.

Gild Tesoro felt a mix of resentment and regret. If it weren't for his battle with Fujitora, he wouldn't have ended up in this predicament. Hearing Buggy mention it, his heart ached even more. He said coldly, "Since you've detained me, don't pretend to be so kind!"

"As a prisoner, you should know your place, Gild Tesoro," Buggy laughed. "After all, this isn't your first time being a prisoner."

"You bastard, what are you saying!" Gild Tesoro's face darkened.

"Do you remember what happened on the Red Line thirteen years ago?"

Buggy said, "Someone climbed up the Red Line and came to Mary Geoise, where the Celestial Dragons live. They set fires everywhere and released countless imprisoned slaves. Besides the Fish-Man Fisher Tiger who led the way, I was also involved..."

At this point, Buggy looked at Gild Tesoro with a meaningful expression in his eyes, "I saw you back in Mary Geoise, and although so many years have passed, you haven't changed much..."

Gild Tesoro was completely different in his youth than he is now, but that didn't stop Buggy from spouting nonsense with a straight face. "That fire was so fierce that I had to cover my face, so the World Government only knew that Fisher Tiger was responsible and issued a warrant for his arrest, ignoring me... You should know that Fish-Man Island is now under my protection, right? That's because Fisher Tiger and I have a very close relationship, which is why I was willing to help."

"You!"

Gild Tesoro stared wide-eyed in disbelief. More than ten years ago, he had offended the Celestial Dragons and was completely enslaved, imprisoned in Mary Geoise to be at their beck and call. He was only able to escape from Mary Geoise after a tall Fish-Man named Fisher Tiger opened the door to his cell.

He would never forget that night in Mary Geoise, when raging fire engulfed the entire city, burning away all the shackles that bound them, burning down the Celestial Dragons' arrogant throne, and also burning that humiliation into the annals of world history.

For so many years, even his closest subordinates were unaware of his humiliating past. The World Government and the Navy hadn't kept a record of deserters. It was safe to say that no one else in the world knew he had been enslaved. So how did this Buggy know...?

Gild Tesoro looked up and met Buggy's gaze. He couldn't remember everyone's face or build, but the latter seemed relaxed and spoke with irrefutable evidence, making it seem like the story of his involvement in arson and the liberation of slaves was true.

Seeing Gild Tesoro's convinced expression, Buggy felt a pang of regret. He should have used the same excuse with Boa Hancock; perhaps something better might have happened.

After thinking for a moment, he shook his head. Rayleigh had helped Boa Hancock back then, but the latter had never given him a kind look.

"Even if you saved me back then, so what?"

Gild Tesoro believed it, but he wasn't convinced at all. "Don't think you can boss me around just because of this!"

"Haha!" Buggy laughed loudly. "There's plenty of time. I'll think carefully about what to do with you next. If you want to escape, you can try, but there's no way out in this vast ocean."

Gild Tesoro snorted coldly, fully aware of his current situation. He adjusted his position, leaning against the partition wall to rest.

Buggy didn't care about the other party's actions. A Devil Fruit user imprisoned by Seastone couldn't even handle an ordinary person, so what threat could they pose?

He went to the storeroom, grabbed some cooked food, filled his stomach, tossed a dry piece of bread onto the deck in front of Gild Tesoro, and then threw three or five apples from a bag, saying with a grin, "Don't say I'm mistreating prisoners, but I don't care if they starve to death."

Gild Tesoro ignored the food in front of him and simply closed his eyes and remained silent.

The sailor continued to steer the ship, and under Mikuru's instructions, continued to sail forward.

Two days passed quietly. The sea ahead was shrouded in thick fog, which, under the scattering and refraction of light, sometimes turned yellow, sometimes red, and sometimes blue.

Standing on the deck, Buggy glanced at Gild Tesoro leaning against the partition wall. The bread beside him was gone, leaving only crumbs, and the bag of fruit was shriveled up. He couldn't help but tease, "What a pity. I was hoping to see if Devil Fruit would grow next to you after you starved to death."

Gild Tesoro only knew that Buggy was mocking him, but he didn't want to bring up the fact that he had eaten the food, so he turned his head away and remained silent.

Buggy ignored it, looked ahead at the changing sea fog, and turned to ask the navigator for his opinion, "Little Cat, is there a problem with that area of water ahead? Should we go around it?"

Mikuru's ears twitched as he replied, "The clouds and wind are quite calm, so there shouldn't be any problems. However, the sea fog here is quite extensive, and going around it might cause us to deviate from our course."

Buggy thought for a moment and said, "Alright, let's move on."

The Pale White, propelled by the sea breeze, plunged into the sea fog before it.

The thick sea fog clung to the ship like tangible water droplets, then spread to the deck, obscuring everyone's view.

Buggy strained to see, but could see nothing beyond ten meters. He then activated his Observation Haki, but there was nothing in front of him, and he couldn't sense anything. Only then did he deactivate his Haki.

As we entered the sea fog, our surroundings began to shrink, and after a moment, a pure, holy light suddenly appeared ahead, while the surrounding sea fog changed even faster, like a neon light.

Buggy immediately asked, "Kitty, what happened?!"

But as soon as he said it, he realized something was wrong. His voice had changed; it sounded different from before, somewhat immature and awkward.

He was slightly surprised. Could it be because he inhaled this sea fog?

After a long silence, Mikuru did not respond from behind, and the deck fell into complete silence.

Buggy was startled and was about to turn around to see what had happened when he was suddenly slapped hard on the back.

He nearly stumbled and fell forward, his vision blurring and his head starting to spin. He shook his head, trying to steady himself, when he heard a very familiar laugh behind him, "Haha, Buggy, what are you daydreaming about!"

Buggy's mind went blank for a moment, and he quickly turned around, only to see the deck behind him filled with figures, and the person who had patted him on the shoulder...

It was Shanks, wearing a straw Straw Hat, and he looked to be only thirteen or fourteen years old.

Suddenly, it was as if a thunderclap had struck Buggy's mind, and his ears were filled with a piercing ringing. He shook his head violently, staring incredulously at Shanks in front of him, clenched his right fist tightly, and suddenly slammed it towards his opponent.

The punch landed squarely on Shanks' right cheek, sending him flying five or six meters.

Buggy looked at his aching fist; his entire hand and arm had shrunk considerably. He looked down in surprise at his whole body, not just his hands, but his entire body had returned to how it looked when he was thirteen or fourteen!

Caught off guard by the attack, Shanks, clutching his swollen cheek, stood up from the deck and charged over angrily, shouting, "I was just joking with you, Buggy! You hit way too hard!"

"It's true..."

Buggy looked up at the blue sky and white clouds, then looked back at the pirates coming and going on the deck. Some were sitting and playing cards, some were fishing with fishing rods, and some were lying down and taking a nap. They were all familiar faces that he recognized!

He blinked hard, then slapped himself again. The burning pain on his cheek told him that this was not a hallucination, it was all real... What on earth was going on?!

Seeing Buggy's stunned expression, Shanks' anger vanished, replaced by panic. He turned back and shouted anxiously, "Mr. Rayleigh, something's wrong with Buggy! It must be because he crossed that sea!"

Rayleigh, a very young man with dazzling blond hair, strolled over slowly, pried Buggy's eyelids open, examined his pupils closely, and then waved his hand in front of him.

Buggy slapped Rayleigh's hand away. "Mr. Rayleigh, what are you doing!"

"You still recognize me, so it seems you're alright," Rayleigh said with a smile.

"What... what happened? How did I get here?"

Buggy looked at Rayleigh, feeling very uneasy.

"Do you remember? Yesterday, we were swept into that area of sea filled with a mesmerizing fog by huge waves. This fog has a strong hallucinogenic effect, so you fell for it, hahaha!" Rayleigh laughed heartily.

"That sea fog..."

Buggy stood there, stunned, his mind a jumbled mess. "A hallucination? Was everything that happened before just a hallucination? But it all felt so real."

"Don't even mention you, even I thought the hallucination I was seeing was real."

Rayleigh smiled helplessly and waved to Crocus, who was sitting in a chair reading a newspaper. "Crocus, come and help me!"

Crocus adjusted his glasses, folded the newspaper, picked up the first-aid kit, and got up to walk over. Rayleigh said, "Let's take a look at this kid; we don't want him to get hurt."

After examining Buggy with his stethoscope, Crocus said, "Nothing's wrong. His heart rate and breathing are normal."

He thought for a moment, then took out a sedative, injected it into Buggy's arm, and asked, "How are you feeling? Any better?"

Buggy looked at the people in front of him— Rayleigh, Crocus, and Shanks —clearly. If you looked closely, you could even see the pores on their faces. He could also feel the sea breeze, sometimes gentle and sometimes strong, as he stood on the deck.

He took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind of the jumbled thoughts, and calmly said, "I'm alright."

"Great, you rascal!" Shanks affectionately put his arm around Buggy's neck. "I told you, it's just a bit of sea fog, what could possibly happen!"

The next chapter will be about Laugh Tale (facepalm)